Demigods and Monsters
by Harbinger00
Summary: We hear of demigods and legacies, their origins, their uprising, but where do monsters really come from? Reyna meets a stranger in the woods, and learns more about the world she lives in. All characters, excluding my OC, belong to Rick Riordan.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Reyna," a pale skinned boy with long, black hair called, "are you ready to go yet?"

"Almost," I furrowed my brow in frustration, "I just need to finish a bit more paperwork, then we can head on."

"Rey," He huffed, "can't Frank finish that up? You're working yourself to death."

"He's too busy training newcomers, Nico," I looked up at my friend's dark, piercing eyes, "I've been doing this for a few years now, I can handle it."

"Okay," Nico shrugged his shoulders, "I'll be outside when you're ready."

"Alright," I immediately immersed myself in my work again. As much as I would love to help train our newest legacies and demigods, this _has_ to be done. I don't resent Frank for doing it, I just wish I was in his shoes.

I let out a deep sigh, throwing my head back and only stealing a small glance at the few pieces of paper left. Malice seeped out of my typical, cold presence, as if I was trying to tear them apart with my mind.

Just a few left, then off to the east coast. I get back to it immediately.

Since Scipio is going through rebirth, I have to rely on Nico's shadow-travelling. I had more than a fair share of that type of transportation, but I grow tired of staying stationary here, and there are some Roman offspring that need to be transported here to Camp Jupiter.

I eagerly sign off on the last paper, but still attempting to write my signature as neatly as possible, despite the severe cramp in my right hand. I take one last look at the piles of paperwork on my desk before deciding that this is a good day's work. I grab my weapons in case of trouble ahead, and head outside to meet Nico.

He nods to me, and we set out to a close tree with a good amount of shade. As we walk to the tree, I remember around this time during the Giant War. Concern envelopes me like a blanket on a cold day; utterly suffocating.

"If you want, we can call Leo and get him to pick us up."

"No need," He stopped in front of the tree, "I can handle it, besides, we'll have to use Festus to bring the offspring back, no point in giving Leo more work to do."

"If you're sure," I almost lost him last year, he shadow-travelled too much, and almost became one himself. I, among others, could not stand to lose him that way.

"Hey," he put his hand on my shoulder, "it's gonna be okay."

I nod, preparing for the darkness to take us to Camp Half-Blood. I was still concerned, not for me, but for my friend. If push comes to shove, I can always empower him, give him an extra breath of energy. He took my hand as he commanded the shadows to do his bidding, they seemed opposed to it, but gave into the prince's wishes.

Tendrils of black encircled us and took us into a realm with no light. Everything seemed to shift beneath our feet, yet nothing moved. It was a sense of freedom, like standing on top of a cliff; exciting, but terrifying.

Everything came to a halt, I had thought we were there already. Nico looked uneasy, however.

"Something's wrong," Nico looked around as his hair whipped around in this black hole.

His eyes widened in surprise as something reached for me, pulling me off of him. I couldn't see it, but Nico took his eyes off of the aggressor to cry out for me.

"Reyna!" He tried to reach for me, "No!"

I fell out of the tunnel of shadows, Nico's voice became more distant, like an echo from a valley.

"... find you!" That was all I could make out. I braced for the worst as I shut my eyes, I'm glad I did, because shortly after, a branch hit my face.

I woke up in a dense forest, complimented by the musty smell of dirt. I had no idea where I was or how I got there.

Oh.

That's right.

I groaned in frustration, and rubbed my temples to enunciate said frustration. I took deep, even breaths to gather my bearings. I saw no point in sighing all day about my situation, I just need to figure out where the hell I am and how to get back to either camp I'm closest to.

When I first arrived at Camp Jupiter, information on survival camping was drilled into our heads. Everyday, we would go through exercises and expeditions in the wilderness to hone our survival skills, it would last from as short as a week to three months. I picked up the trade quickly, happy to be somewhere free like a deserted island or a forest rather than that damned ship.

I felt for any equipment I could use to make a compass, just to figure out where I was. I knew I had a few needles tucked into studs on my armor, next I needed to find a small container to put some water into and find a bit of wool or any type of fabric to magnetize said needle.

I searched around the woods, and as I walked some more, I noticed litter decorated the forest. Shotgun shells scattered on stepped on soil, and beer cans were piled up everywhere. I thought nothing of it and grabbed one of the empty beer cans. I walked a bit more, attempting to find any source of water, even if it was a puddle of piss, thankfully, however, it didn't come to that, as the sound of running water soon came into being.

I settled on the ground near to water, and pulled out my trusty dagger. I cut the empty beer can into a miniature bowl and rinsed it out, the sharp smell of Bud Light violated my sense of smell, with a scoff, I dunked it into the small stream of water. I filled it up once more and set it to the side, I took one of my many needles and a small piece of cloth I keep tied around my wrist, and rubbed the needle at least a hundred times. Finally, it did the trick and I let the needle down gently into the small bowl of water.

The needle spun for a few full rotations, but settled into place, the tip of the needle pointing towards my top right.

"So that's north…" I said aloud, mainly to help me remember, I should head east. Shadow travelling could be random, but it still uses a type of trajectory, which means I would be closer to Camp Half-Blood than Camp Jupiter.

I pick my dagger up, and prepare myself for the worst.

I get the sense I am being followed.

Every now and then, I hear something shifting, it's far away, and I know it's not some wild animal. An animal would lose interest even after five minutes and run away, a bear would do a full-out sprint, it wouldn't be stalking me. Which means it's something else.

Something else.

I reach for my javelin, but before I can get into fighting stance, a blur rushes past me, knocking my Imperial Gold javelin out of my hands. I sprawl back ten or so feet and try to regain my composure.

I had never seen anything like it.

A lithe, pale bodied humanoid with claws as sharp as Apollo's wit stood before me. It was hunched over, but still stood well over six feet. Bones protruding out of its body like spikes, razor sharp teeth adorned its face like a vampire. Hazy eyes looked for something, yet nothing. Almost as though it couldn't see the opponent in front of it.

'Possibly blind,' I scanned carefully, not wanting to make a mistake, 'incredibly fast and impossibly agile, it could put Mercury to shame.'

It got down on all fours and took off towards the opposite way I came. I decided to remain there, just to be safe. It seemed to only react to the sound of my weapon.

The sound.

Sonar, that's how it sees.

The area surrounding me had running water all around, wind blowing in the dense trees, and small animals scattered throughout the forest, making noise, either for mating or scavenging. That must have thrown the monster's trail off.

I stick close to a small stream, but far enough to make it seem as though there are two trails, in case it comes back. I grab my weapon very slowly and carefully as I say a quick prayer to Fortuna so that I may be lucky enough to avoid another encounter, but in case I do, I grab a few rocks to throw as far as I can to throw it off yet again.

With the final task finished, I set out to the East Coast.  
_

I had been walking for well over three hours now, daytime still shone brightly through the branches of the trees. Luckily, I had found more litter scattered around, which means there are people nearby.

Or there was.

I found a slightly worn trail I decided to follow, maybe it'll lead me to a camp or a road, or maybe it'll lead even deeper into this dense forest.

Sweat dripped from my face, the heat of summer and the humidity of the area was slowly wearing on me. However, I am the Daughter of Bellona, I won't let this stop me.

My mind went to Percy Jackson, who butchered my godly parent's name.

'Bologna?'

His stupidity is both enlightening and irritating.

Still, he had a good heart, fiercely loyal and caring to his friends. We were never romantically involved, too much was at stake and he was too confused about his past and who he was at the time. I am glad that we didn't become involved that way, as I had shortly found out he had a girlfriend back at his camp.

A small ache in my heart soon came, Venus' words still ringing in my mind.

'No mortal or demigod shall ever have your heart.'

I yearned for love, I craved it. Sure, I'm the Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, but I'm still human, and I can't keep this up much longer. I wanna go to college and actually have a life. I will never abandon my duties on a whim, but my heart isn't where it was during the war with the Giants.

I push these thoughts out of my mind, there's a trail to follow and monsters to avoid, I can't be distracted.

I continue to walk for a few more hours, until I find a camp; small tent, a smoking fire pit, and a canopy overhang where a cooler and small picnic table laid. I rush forward and call out for someone.

"Hello?" I projected my voice, "Is anyone here?"

No response. I walk towards the tent and find it torn to pieces in the back, like a bear had broken into it. I entered from the torn entrance, and the bloodbath that was the makeshift home turned it into a slaughterhouse.

Corpses of a young couple lay there, limbs missing and entrails hanging out. Faces had been torn off and blood stained their ripped clothing. I gagged at the sight of it, it was fresh, blood had soaked in, but didn't dry.

I heard rustling in the trees behind me, and broken growling. The beast from earlier had brought a friend, both of which crawled frantically on all fours to find the source of noise.

I stayed put, hoping I would be lucky like last time, but I pulled a rock around and got ready to throw it as far from me as possible.

The beast got closer, so close I could touch it if I pleased.

I passed on that opportunity.

It scampered away quickly, and when I got my arm out of the torn entrance, I threw the rock lightly to peak it's interest. It took the bait and leapt at the noise, it picked up the rock with it's bony, clawed hands, and slammed it on the ground with anger.

The other beast crawled a bit slowly to the angry one, as if to see what was going on, the angry one shoved the other back, and a small fight erupted between them. The sound of bodies being slammed on the ground allowed me to walk out of the tent slowly, and arm myself with yet another rock, only this time, I threw it with full-force. It hit a branch about fifteen feet away, and both monsters took off to investigate the noise.

I aimed another rock a bit lower, as to avoid hitting the same branch, and threw it with the same amount of force. The rock landed further than the other, and the beasts took off yet again. I took this opportunity to quietly, but quickly, sneak away.

As soon as I was out of the flat, once inhabited campgrounds, I sprinted as fast as I could. I don't think they heard me.

I heard a roar behind me, and it. Was. Pissed.

I continued running, and while I did so, I grabbed my javelin. If I went down, I wasn't going down without a fight. The sound of limbs and grunting got closer, and I readied myself for whatever was to come.

'Mom,' I begged internally, 'please help turn the tide of this battle.'

As I turned around to face the demons, a mass of brown fur rushed past me and leapt at the other beasts.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Hunt

As the light from the morning sun hit my eyes, the screams became faded, the names soon became an aftertaste on my tongue, and the faces disappeared with the nightmare. Sleep used to be my favorite thing to do, until the accident happened. Now every night, the terrors of dreams became ceaseless and without mercy, barraging me with feelings of utter shame.

I sat upright in my makeshift bed, the main materials being twigs and moss, the twigs made a frame to hold up my lean figure. As I tried to drown out the poor people in my head, I practically sent my soul out to find something to do. I walked on the cool, dirt floor to leave my small hut, and searched for something, anything, to distract me.

I first took inventory of my small hideaway. The hut I was in for starters, then the food shelter. The food shelter was put partially in the ground to keep any and all meats as cool and dry for as long as possible. I know I'm running low on the essentials, so I'll put that at the top of my checklist.

Next is the fire, though the pit I built was deep and still had hot coals near the bottom, I was running low on firewood, so it would be best if that was a priority on my list as well. Despite there being hot coals, it wouldn't take long for all of it to go out, so I piled the remaining wood on top of the fire and hoped to God that it would keep it alive.

Water wasn't as big of an issue as food, as I built my camp up only a few yards from a creek, giving me a seemingly infinite supply of the element of life. On top of that, there were a few good-sized clay deposits near it, meaning I had containers to put charcoal and water in for later use. I had already made a few pots for instant use, small, large, and just about every size in between. The largest one was used for tanning leather, keeping me from hunting to find a container that will hold some animal hide.

With my checklist in mind, I grabbed my bow and arrows, a stone knife, and put on some leather gear to help camoflauge a bit better so I won't risk being seen by my prey. By the time I find something, I'd have worked up an appetite, so with that objective in mind, I set out to find some hunting grounds.

The sun was gradually getting more intense, which made it harder to focus on the horizon. I found some animal tracks a mile west of my small camp, and tracked it into the butchered forest.

I saw the boar, and pushed my eyes back to the blinding horizon. No doubt it was able to smell me, though it doesn't matter now, all that matters is that I'm the predator, and it's my prey. I notched an arrow into my bow, and took aim at my subject.

I felt the wind to see which way it was blowing, I took notice of the distance, as well. I'm gonna make this first shot my last.

I drew my arrow back and waited a moment to see if the wind had any last minute decisions, and after waiting I tipped my bow up, making sure it will hit my target without fail. I released the arrow after taking more than enough time aiming, watching it sail through the air at explosive speeds.

'Moment of truth,' I thought to myself, despite the arrow moving at near blinding speeds, the seconds couldn't have stretched out longer than they already had. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the arrow struck true, hitting the boar somewhere between it's left hind leg and stomach. With a loud squeal, it attempted to run away, before toppling over in some bushes and desperately wiggling to get away.

I ran at near breakneck speeds to end the poor thing of it's suffering, grabbing my stone knife and readying it to deliver the final blow. When I finally reached it, it wiggled a few inches before stopping altogether, trying to catch its breath and prepare for the inevitable.

"Forgive me," genuity seeped into my apology, or at least a part of me did.

And with a quick and merciless knife thrust to the neck, it bled out to its death, ensuring it's suffering was over and my meal secured. I waited a moment before I hauled it back to camp to make sure it would be dead and no more fear will be struck into its heart.

After the wait, I grabbed its hind legs and dragged it back to camp. My stomach was rumbling more than an earthquake, and it was only getting worse. I had half a mind to let the animal in me tear it apart and eat it raw, but I had to assert my dominance in this new world of mine. So I steeled my nerves, and shuffled my way back to camp.

As I made the final shove to my makeshift home, I began to prep for skinning the boar, as well as finding a clean place to set the fresh meat. I got my trusty stone knife, and cut the boar from neck to testicles. I had a promise to keep, and that it's blood won't be spilled for nothing, I will use every part I can to avoid needless sacrifice.

As I tore the hide from its body, my mouth began to salivate an extraordinary amount, forcing me to stop doing just that and shove down my animalistic and primal urges to tear it apart and devour it raw.

The screams came back like the clapping of thunder.

No.

I have more control than that, even more so after the accident.

I will not let it out. Not now, not ever.

I pushed down my primal urge, and focused on something else. Anything else. I settled for admiration.

The Cherokee were smart to use animal brains to tan leather, something that is key to surviving in the great outdoors. Whether it's to make handles to weapons and tools or clothing, leather is a remarkable thing to be appreciated no matter what you do with it.

I grabbed the large pot I had, went down to a nearby creek to fill it up, and warmed it up on the fire. If I filled it up too much, then the consistency would just ruin the hide. I've been doing this for two years, now, and despite it being a learning process, it's still something I've gotten good at, considering I practically had zero experience to begin with.

After setting the clay pot on the fire, I began to work on the skull containing what I needed, and after finding the weaker points of the skull, I grabbed a fist-sized rock and began to hammer until cracks appeared. I continued this action until it started to chip. I got my stone knife again and chiselled at the opened points of the head, until it opened like a watermelon and I got what I needed.

I went back to the fire and tested the temperature, it still needed a while to warm up, so I got a stick and stirred it around, making sure every bit of the water was evenly warm. I did that for five minutes until the water was lukewarm. Finally, it's ready for the tanning.

I tore apart the brains over pot, and began to stir once more, making sure the oils from the brain were evenly spread out. I then placed the hide into the water after taking the pot off of the fire. I set it under the shade of some trees and made a resolve that after cleaning the meat, cooking and then eating it, I would find a safer place to set it.

I grabbed a smaller pot, one that I could fill a few servings of water with, and made my way to the creek yet again. The air smelled of something else, something fresh. I set my bowl down gently and I made my way to my right.. I slowly pulled the shrubbery apart to see what it was.

It was a doe, with her little fawn close behind. Innocent eyes looked up to knowing ones, legs unsure of where to walk. The perfect image of beauty.

It didn't think so, though. It wanted to tear them apart, limb from limb, and feed from their flesh as it gorged itself on their blood. A deep growl and slow, rearranging of bones took place in the span of five seconds as a fight for my body took place.

I took a deep breath, and forced every fiber of my being to fight this off. Flexing my muscles so bones would stay where a human's bones are meant to stay. Finally I won, but this caught the attention of the mother and her child.

I hated to be mean, but before the Beast had half a mind to come back for round two, I let out a bloodcurdling roar to scare them off. The mother reared back a few feet, but didn't run, probably because her fawn didn't concede an inch. Instead, the baby walked closer, ever so slightly, lowering its head and sniffing the ground in the process.

The mother soon followed, only walking fast enough to walk in order with her child, as an attempt to protect said offspring.

My heart fluttered, a feeling I had forgotten since I relocated. It almost hurt, honestly, to see something so innocent showing trust in something so vile. Hell, it did hurt, but not as much as my hands did after snapping and rearranging, nails thickening, growing, and tearing skin apart all in one, painful moment.

The mother and child backed up, but they both showed hesitance, looking back after running ten feet away from me. They kept staring, and staring, and I felt myself getting hungrier and hungrier.

I was just hurting. I held it back as long as I could, and I have no more energy to fight the Beast anymore.

I hurt so much, I just made reasons to stop caring and give in. Give in to the bloodlust, give in to the hunger, give in to the Beast.

I fell to my knees as my spine snapped. My spine snapped more than ten times, bone spurs growing rapidly to elongate my body, the same happened to my legs, only my heels stretched out to be as long as my shins. My arms did the same thing, at least my hands were already fucked.

Muscles started expanding at an exponential rate, layers upon layers of solid muscle building itself up with no struggle was almost as painful as my bones rearranging. It felt like I was on fire, and being put through a fucking cheese-grater. Hair slowly started growing all my new, bulky body as my face grew outwards. My teeth fell out as new, sharp ones took their place.

As I felt my senses become more accurate and the pain started to dull, I heard panting in the distance, followed by heavy footsteps. All of them were running, and the only one that was panting was someone in the lead.

A chase?

It got closer and closer, as my transition was finishing up.

I was able to smell them, the sweat on their foreheads, the blood on their clothes, but none of them had the same scent.

Humans typically have a saltier smell to them, not like the sea, like a salty-sweet one. The two in the back, however, they reeked of sulfur and blood. They smelled evil.

"Listen to me," I pleaded with my demon, "Slaughter those monsters, but please, don't take another human life. You can feed on whatever the hell those things are all you want, I don't care. If you do that, you will get free reign, anywhere you'd like. Anywhere."

My resolve was clear, as my intentions were known, and deep down inside, I felt that - for once - we had an agreement. There was some small ioda of peace inside me, something I never thought would be possible.

The final stage of my transformation hardened my skin and made my new coat of fur full and thick. The pain was finally gone. Only, I have given the Beast full control, and it has given me a front-row seat to the horror show. We took off to the source of the noise, and I can only hope the small pact we made hold up.

Time to rip and tear.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Gnashing

As the heaping body of dark brown hair rushed past me, it tackled the two pale aggressors in one fell swoop, sending them sprawling and fighting for their own footing. I steadied my footing with my javelin in hand, ready for any type of confrontation that was soon to come my way.

However, the Beast that had seemingly taken a side with me was entrancing in it's savage and brutal assault, proceeding to step on the downed body of the opposing monster and tearing it's left arm off, a shriek of utmost agony filled the air and made my ears ring. I instinctively pulled back as to avoid the hair-rising scream.

As the downed body of the first one thrashed with pain on the root and rock covered ground, the second one quickly got back on all fours, and jumped on the back of the Beast, biting and clawing at it all the while. Hair and blood swarmed the air like a tornado in a cat house.

The beast let out a loud and gravelly roar, and palmed the head of the second, long-bodied attacker and threw it several feet away. The beast seemed to have some type of awareness, instead of attacking like the massive, angry beast it seemed to be.

As the single-armed monster tried to get back up, the beast grabbed it by its own head, and shoved it's hand into the chest of the monster, ripping out all of it's entrails and internal organs, all of which were pitch black, as though they had been stained with tar.

As it's writhing body fell limp in the Beast's grasp, the current ally tossed its body to the ground, searching for the second one that had torn it's back to hell.

I couldn't find it either, it had disappeared without a trace. Quietly and efficiently, making me secretly envy that monster's subtlety.

As I was searching, the Beast met my gaze, and I was able to look at it's monstrous form more closely. It was at least two to three times my size in mass, jagged and blood-stained teeth dripped with hunger, as though it was waiting for it's next meal. It's claws stood thick and sharp, a bipedal creature with twenty claws evenly dispersed on all four of its limbs. It's eyes were a warm brown, but with a tint of red, making it seem like it was burning with the fire of the sun. Around it's eyes wasn't the white that you would see on any natural man or beast, it was a pitch black that seemed to stretch on forever.

It stood at a staggering six-and-a-half feet tall, and it's muscles were still defined through it's thick and firm hide. While I was taking in the Beast in front of me, it slowly walked towards me, seemingly sizing me up for a meal. A low and broken growl escaped from its mouth as it bared its jagged fangs. Yet, the more I looked into its eyes, the more I realized it was looking through me, as if…

The sound of a twig snap caught my attention, and I quickly rolled out of the way. As I did, I saw the creature tackle the Beast, lurching forward on my past location. The Beast simply reached forward, before the pale demon could latch onto it again, and effortlessly tore off its arms. It began to screech in utter agony, but the Beast grabbed its lower jaw, and tore that off, too. As it gurgled, the Beast plunged its claws deep inside its head, revealing a pale gray brain with black veins on it.

It threw what remained of the demon on the ground, seemingly pleased with its work. My guard never lowered, however, I kept my javelin up in case my new 'friend' decided it would enjoy ripping parts of my body off. It slowly turned its scruffy, bloodstained head towards me, and quickly made its way to me. As I was preparing to roll and stab it, it started roaring in pain.

The Beast grabbed its head and turned violently and viciously, as if to shake something loose. As it was doing so, a dark steam started to rise from its body, and hair slowly started to fall off. Its stature reduced immensely, from six and a half feet to my height, and muscles started to contract and shrink.

As the Beast was roaring, it turned into a man's screams, screams of utmost pain. Its eyes soon became human, the sclera became white again, the iris becoming a honey brown, and the bloodlust being reduced to nothing.

All of its fur and hide shed and evaporated into fair skin, and the muscles became more lean and natural.

I was met with a man, one who was bare naked.

"Sorry," his voice was gravelly, likely from the screaming, he quickly covered his exposed areas, "I suppose there's a lot to unpack here?"

"What _are_ you?" I asked, I was still apprehensive. I know there are humans that turn to beast, even half-beasts, like Fauns and Centaurs, but I had never seen anyone with control over something like lycanthropy.

I didn't trust him. At all. If he can turn to beast in the middle of the day, then what's to stop him from turning now, and killing me? I kept my javelin pointed against him.

"Look," he took a step towards me with his hands up, "I know this looks bad, and I'm just as surprised with you are, but if you keep on treating me as a threat, _it's_ gonna see _you_ as a threat, and I will not be able to stop it again."

I pricked him in the shoulder with the tip of my javelin, causing his skin to burn and steam from the Imperial gold.

"I can handle myself."

"I have no doubt you can," he winced, but still attempted to stay calm, "but you clearly aren't from here, and you sure as hell don't smell human, so how about we start over?"

He took a step back and extended his hand, the small puncture I made stopped steaming and healed quickly, "I'm Allen, what's your name?"

I hesitated. I thought very carefully about my next move, but I don't know where I am and how to get back to either Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood. While my javelin did hurt him, I have never seen it react that way to something other than human. It would usually take ambrosia and nectar to heal that quickly.

I could kill him right now. I could stab my javelin through his head and he would die, surely, not even his ridiculous rate of healing could fix that. But if his reflexes are anything like his counterpart, then I would be back to fighting something I'm not familiar with.

I may be the Daughter of Bellona, but even I know when a fight is useless.

"I'm Reyna," I shook his hand, I read his eyes very carefully to search for any ulterior motives, "and there is a lot I need to ask you."

"I can understand that," he retrieved his hand and pointed behind him, "my camp is that way, if you'd like, we can talk there."

I nodded and I followed suit.

After fifteen minutes we arrived at a small clearing, filled with the bare essentials; a hut, a creek, and a firepit. There was a giant slab of meat and some hide near the dead animal, ready to be cooked and tanned; respectively. Around the fire pit was a downed log, Allen sat down on it and patted the seat next to him, signalling its okay to sit down.

With brief hesitation, I did, yet I kept my javelin in my right hand, ready to be used at anytime.

He seemed to sense my apprehension, "Look, I know what you saw, but I promise that I'm not a bloodthirsty savage when I'm human."

"Exactly the reason why I'm keeping this on hand," I coldly looked him in the eyes, "I'm guessing there's no telling when you'll turn, right? My mother didn't send you, because you fought to turn back to human, which means that you can't control it, and since it's the middle of the day, then that must mean it can happen at any time."

He whistled in appreciation, "Wow, you are _sharp_."

I silently looked at him, waiting for affirmation.

"Sigh… you're right, I can't control it," he wet his lips before continuing, "but I hadn't turned in two months before today, so I still have some form of restraint."

I could always use my ability to tell if he was speaking the truth, but there's no telling if the Beast within him has a conflicting personality with his lax one.

"Like I said earlier, you don't smell human. It's different, but I can't quite explain it."

This Allen seems to have some realm of understanding of the world beyond mortals.

"I'm a demigod, Daughter of Bellona, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

"Demigod, huh?" He raised his eyebrows, "well this makes this a hell of a lot easier to explain. Do you know what those creatures were?"

"No.. I've never seen anything like them."

"Those were Wendigos," a dark look passed over his eyes, "spirits of people who succumbed to the hunger of human flesh. Just like your world of Roman gods, monsters, and creatures, there are also many more; such as Algonquin. They are creatures of insatiable bloodlust and hunger, and will stop at nothing to get their next meal."

"Here in the mountains, the myths of Native American folklore ring true. The Wendigos you saw may have very well been from the purging of Native Americans from these lands so many years ago, among others. The mountains here are the last place many of the spirits, beings, and monsters congregate, often making this territory unruly and hazardous. Yet, civilization is unaware of these things existing, and it has to stay that way."

"And where exactly are these mountains?"

"The Great Smoky Mountains, from North Carolina to Tennessee."

Damn.

"I need to get to New York."

"Why?"

"Just like you said, there are other worlds beyond what some of us know, and the Greeks still exist too. It's the closest camp from here, and that's where my friend who got me here is."

I think.

He sat quietly for a minute, taking in my words.

"That's going to take you two weeks by foot, if you are constantly walking. I guess you don't have a means of transportation?"

"I can hitch hike."

"So you'll be apprehensive towards me, the only person for miles, but not against creepy old men who will undress you with their dying eyes?"

"Well, they don't turn into a werewolf in the middle of the day."

"Were _bear_ , and these woods span for miles, there are hundreds of Wendigos stalking these woods, among other things far worse, just lying dormant in the most isolated areas here, waiting for a pretty, young girl with hot blood to walk by."

As much composure as I have, I couldn't help but blush.

"Like I said, I can take care of myself," despite my exhaustion and hunger, I was determined to get back to a place I was familiar with. His eyes were conflicted, and he waited to make a response.

"Fire."

"What?"

"They're weak against fire, they are cold and frail, and the very presence of fire repels them. They may be blind, but their sense of feeling, smell, and hearing are still supernatural."

"Thank you," I made sure to grab what I needed and headed northwest. I was sure to find a highway with drivers somewhere along there.

"You should stay and rest."

I stopped and turned towards him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I know you just met me," he stood up and looked me dead in the eye, "and while our introduction wasn't under better circumstances, you have a long journey ahead of you. Eat some food, get some rest, and while you do that, I'll make a map for the nearest location that you can hitchhike with creepy old men. No funny business, nothing like that, just… so you can at least not die, okay?"

I took his words into consideration. I still don't trust him, I don't, but there was sincerity in his words, sincerity I took a surprising amount of comfort in.

"I'll think about it."

"I'm about to cook this meat, at least stay long enough to eat something."

"..."

"Okay," but I paid attention to other… areas from earlier.

He looked down and apologized, and quickly went into his hut to grab something to cover up. He returned with a pelt used as a type of fur coat on his lower half, while his upper body was still exposed. He quickly smiled at me and started preparing the meat for the both of us. I sat back down and rested my suspicion of this stranger… for now.


End file.
